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Divorced and Remarried. Müller Writes, Francis Dictates

A document from the prefect for doctrine reconfirms the 'no' to communion and brings clarification on "conscience" and "mercy." Freezes the expectations of change. But is a "Ratzinger hypothesis" returning to the field?

by Sandro Magister

ROME, October 23, 2013 - "I believe that this is the time of mercy," Pope Francis had said on the return flight from Brazil, responding to a question about communion for the divorced and remarried.

But the notion that the "mercy" preached by pope Jorge Mario Bergoglio would herald a lifting of the ban on communion, as many had inferred, is now out of the question.

The 'no' has been handed down - clearly with the approval of the pope - by the prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller, in today's edition of "L'Osservatore Romano," with a document fully reconfirming the doctrine of the Catholic Church in this matter, released contemporaneously in seven languages.

A document that dedicates its final section precisely to cautioning against a "false" interpretation of mercy:

"An objectively false appeal to mercy also runs the risk of trivializing the image of God, by implying that God cannot do other than forgive. The mystery of God includes not only his mercy but also his holiness and his justice. If one were to suppress these characteristics of God and refuse to take sin seriously, ultimately it would not even be possible to bring God’s mercy to man.

"Jesus encountered the adulteress with great compassion, but he said to her “Go and do not sin again” (Jn 8:11). God’s mercy does not dispense us from following his commandments or the rules of the Church. Rather it supplies us with the grace and strength needed to fulfil them, to pick ourselves up after a fall, and to live life in its fullness according to the image of our heavenly Father."

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Not only that. Pope Francis had ignited expectations of change - again on the return flight from Brazil - also when he had recalled the example of the Orthodox Churches that in marriage "permit a second union."

But here as well the declaration of the prefect of doctrine has closed every loophole:

"In the Orthodox Churches today, there are a great many grounds for divorce, which are mostly justified in terms of 'oikonomia,' or pastoral leniency in difficult individual cases, and they open the path to a second or third marriage marked by a penitential character. This practice cannot be reconciled with God’s will, as expressed unambiguously in Jesus’ sayings about the indissolubility of marriage. [. . .] Sometimes it is maintained that the Church de facto tolerated the Eastern practice. But this is not correct."

And further on:

"The teaching on 'epikeia, too' – according to which a law may be generally valid, but does not always apply to concrete human situations – may not be invoked here, because in the case of the indissolubility of sacramental marriage we are dealing with a divine norm that is not at the disposal of the Church."

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A third point that Müller's statement is intended to clarify - here as well with implicit reference to poorly interpreted words from the pope - concerns 'a concrete problem of conscience," used as a permit for communion:

"It is frequently suggested that remarried divorcees should be allowed to decide for themselves, according to their conscience, whether or not to present themselves for holy communion. This argument, based on a problematical concept of “conscience”, was rejected by a document of the CDF in 1994. Naturally, the faithful must consider every time they attend Mass whether it is possible to receive communion, and a grave unconfessed sin would always be an impediment. At the same time they have the duty to form their conscience and to align it with the truth. In so doing they listen also to the Church’s Magisterium, which helps them “not to swerve from the truth about the good of man, but rather, especially in more difficult questions, to attain the truth with certainty and to abide in it” (Veritatis Splendor, 64).

"If remarried divorcees are subjectively convinced in their conscience that a previous marriage was invalid, this must be proven objectively by the competent marriage tribunals. Marriage is not simply about the relationship of two people to God, it is also a reality of the Church, a sacrament, and it is not for the individuals concerned to decide on its validity, but rather for the Church, into which the individuals are incorporated by faith and baptism."

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In general terms, the document from the prefect of doctrine reiterates that "if doubts remain over the validity of a failed marriage, these must be examined by the competent marriage tribunals."

But Müller also recognizes that in a context like that of the present "invalid" marriages are very numerous.

Exactly as Pope Francis had noted, again on the return flight from Rio de Janeiro, when he recalled that his predecessor in Buenos Aires, Cardinal Quarracino, used to say: "For me half of marriages are null, because they get married without knowing that it is forever, because they do it for social convenience."

But if null marriages are so great in number, how will the diocesan tribunals be able to examine all of them, juridically ascertaining their invalidity?

Müller does not pose this question explicitly in his document. However, he cites a 1998 article by Joseph Ratzinger republished in "L'Osservatore Romano" of November 30, 2011, in which the predecessor of Pope Francis explored the pros and cons of a hypothetical solution: the possible recourse to a decision in conscience to receive communion on the part of a divorced and remarried Catholic, in the event that the lack of recognition of the nullity of his previous marriage (on account of a sentence maintained to be erroneous or because of the difficulty of proving its nullity in the tribunal procedure) should contrast with his well-founded conviction that the marriage is objectively null.

It can be presumed that the synod of bishops of October 2014 - to which Pope Francis has entrusted the question - will examine precisely this "Ratzinger hypothesis" in order to innovate in this matter, albeit with the reaffirmation of the absolute indissolubility of marriage.

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In releasing the document from Müller in seven languages, "L'Osservatore Romano" notes that "different contributions have been made" on the question of communion for the divorced and remarried.

The allusion is in particular to a liberalizing text that recently circulated among the clergy of the German diocese of Freiburg.

To the tendencies expressed by this text, Müller responds as follows in his document:

"The Church cannot respond to the growing incomprehension of the sanctity of marriage by pragmatically accommodating the supposedly inevitable, but only by trusting in 'the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God' (1 Cor 2:12). Sacramental marriage is a testimony to the power of grace, which changes man and prepares the whole Church for the holy city, the new Jerusalem, the Church, which is prepared 'as a bride adorned for her husband' (Rev 21:2).

"The Gospel of the sanctity of marriage is to be proclaimed with prophetic candour. By adapting to the spirit of the age, a weary prophet seeks his own salvation but not the salvation of the world in Jesus Christ. Faithfulness to marital consent is a prophetic sign of the salvation that God bestows upon the world. 'He who is able to receive this, let him receive it' (Mt 19:12).”